Critic Reviews

I loved the Frontlines campaign and its online game too, and see myself playing it for some time to come. Yes, it has some graphical anomalies, clipping and texture glitches and horizontal tearing (you can turn v-synch on but it does hit the frame rate occasionally), but most of the time it’s doing so much more to immerse you in the game that you’ll forgive it. Frontlines is a game that dared to try and do something a little bit different in a ridiculously competitive genre, and succeeded in almost every department. A co-op mode seems a daft omission to me, but the online multiplayer feels so much like the campaign mode that you’ll hardly miss it. Highly recommended.

Luckily, these little flaws only slightly detract from the overall experience that Frontlines: Fuel of War works so hard to create. We’re driving into the heart of Russia, battling through the bulwarks of the former Soviet Union, and having one helluva time doing it otherwise. It’s a wonderful contrast to the bleak premise, and a strong reason for why any fan of the first-person shooter genre should invest their limited funds on this stellar underdog.

Frontlines looks and sounds good, generally keeping pace with other games in the genre. Being able to see billowing smoke and tall oil refining structures way off in the distance is a nice touch, really selling the immersion of the large levels. And simple sound tweaks, like the buzz of your flying drones, can be heard even as things explode all around you. Frontlines won't get the attention that bigger titles with flashy production values receive, but it deserves a nod for its focus on fun. There are tons of military shooters out there, but where many offer a me-too experience, Frontlines differentiates itself by providing a fun-first approach. Let the other guys worry about dramatic storylines and realistic military maneuvers while we get our Rambo on in Frontlines: Fuel of War.

Kaos studios have forced their way into the military FPS with Frontlines. Great gameplay, awesome graphics and acceptable sound work has mad Frontlines one of the must rent games of the year. I say must rent as the game is relatively short. It is a must buy if online play is your thing. I am already waiting for the sequel and there are very few games that leave me desiring a sequel. In the end my final recommendation for this game is go get it. Decide if you want it for multiplayer or single player. After this review you will know whether you should buy or rent this game.

At the end of the day, Frontlines: Fuel of War doesn’t fail to impress and though it provides a subtle single-player workout, its multiplayer component packs quite a blast featuring fast paced action, huge battlefields and an array of nifty tools. Playing FFoW is a measure well used as a reprieve from life’s boring moments and a good lesson to exercise fuel consumption (damn you GMC drivers!).

hose that get it will play Frontlines: Fuel of War until the disc wears out. Those that miss the point will have this one back at EB Games the next day– happy to accept the $40 depreciation of their purchase. But even with such strong, complex multiplayer support, we can’t give Frontlines: Fuel of War a complete nod without a single player experience somehow equaling modern, fifty man mayhem via Live. If you know your gaming role (both literally and figuratively) and actually buy Frontlines: Fuel of War based on said self-awareness instead of the marketing hype, there will be nothing but blue skies (blurred by the occasional vapor trail of course) ahead.

Frontlines: Fuel of War was designed with multiplayer junkies in mind. The single player won’t hold your attention for very long, but the online play is certainly the main attraction. If you’re in the market for another first person shooter heavily focused on multiplayer, then Frontlines is certainly worth checking out.

While this game is by no means perfect, it is definitely a fun title to spend some time with. The multiplayer is fun when you can connect, the Achievements are fun to get and you should definitely enjoy the single player story. You will only wish it was longer and had a little more to it.

If you enjoy (and have time for) hour-long tug-of-war matches with a huge array of vehicles and weapons, then it’s hard to go wrong with Frontlines: Fuel of War. Despite the depressingly short single player campaign (which probably won’t be played again after you take your battle online) and the few graphic slip-ups, Frontlines offers a blast of a time online with friends.

"Frontlines: Fuel Of War" is an excellent first effort by developer 'Kaos'.
It has a reasonable single player, that is fun to play through, even if it is too short. It also has some replayability value, which is good. Then the multiplayer, which currently has some small flaws, has the potential to become massive. The games are normally lag-free, and with up to 50 players, vehicles, drones and plenty of weapons, the game is a real blast to play online.

As I’ve already mentioned, at best Frontlines will provide a game for clanners to play for months to come and at worst it’s a nice stopgap game while waiting for the next Battlefield game, Bad Company. My scores for Frontlines: Fuel of War is greatly influenced by my love for team-based shooters, be aware that your mileage may vary depending on your own personal preferences. Kaos Studios has stated that they are committed to supporting the game for a long time to come through patches and DLC. Given their track record with Desert Combat, a free mod, Frontlines very likely has a good future ahead of it. I recommend anyone with a remote interest in Battlefield type games at the very least give Frontlines: Fuel of War a rent to see if the game is for you. I suspect that some folks who have passed on the title will be very surprised to find a really deep and engaging game one that is some of the most multiplayer fun I’ve had on Live in awhile.

The first real game from Kaos Studios has become quite a small success! The innovations are overall quite good, the multiplayer offers tons of explosive action, nice weapons and vehicles and also the presentation could please us. Too bad they didn't succeed in making a worthy single player campaign (but who cares) and that the finishing is just a bit below that from the Battlefield series. Certainly worth a shot for those that like online class-based shooting, but the wait is still for a game that really brings the genre to the next level, instead of an entertaining step aside.

On the whole, Frontlines is the game to get if you're into multiplayer online skirmishes that are completely squad based. The game's single player campaign is obscenely short and thus I can't recommend the title for use a single player gaming experience, but the multiplayer is outstanding and offers up enough variety to make it stand out from the games currently on the market. It's not perfect and you're going to find plenty of asshats online who are simply there to annoy you, but it's easily one of the few games I've had the chance to play that breaks away from the mold in some respects. It's not necessarily innovative, it simply offers more than the traditional first person shooter and that alone makes it worth playing.

While not compellingly original, Frontlines: Fuel of War is still a delightfully engaging shooter that is best enjoyed online where the action really thrives. You can consider the single-player experience a tasty morsel but the real meal can be found in the massive maps of the fun multiplayer portion. All in all, Fuel of War is worth the price of admission.

Similar to the class system of Call of Duty 4, you pick one of six weapon loadouts and one of four roles before you hit the battlefield. It's a really effective system and it translates well onto the online space. And really, that's all there is to say about Frontlines. It isn't the best shooter out there, but the team at Kaos obviously put a lot of thought into the role system and the balancing of the game's sole gametype. I do hope they offer new maps and modes soon, as gamers may quickly grow bored but for the time being, the large-scale multiplayer battles should be more than enough to keep a lot of trigger-happy gamers battling on the frontlines.

While the single-player game is worth playing through, you should play Frontlines: Fuel of War because it brings to bear the best of what made the Battlefield series so popular. Big maps, plenty of weaponry, and many different ways to approach combat make this a solid choice for multiplayer enthusiasts.

Frontlines as a single-player game actually came as quite a surprise. I'd expected its open nature to feel like a series of watered down multiplayer matches, but once you get into the heat of action it's a thrilling experience. It's the multiplayer that will give Frontlines legs though, providing gamers with epic 50-player battles that really give the big boys of the genre a real run for their money. THQ hasn't had the greatest showing on next-gen consoles so far, but Frontlines has the potential to be a very successful franchise.

Frontlines isn’t a perfect game. Its small problems combine to make the overall experience slightly more hit and miss than it could have been. That being said, Frontlines provides some addictive gameplay and is probably the best example yet of multiplayer gaming styles being applied to a single player game and actually working. It ran the risk of alienating both single players and online gamers with a game that didn’t quite give each group the attention it deserves, but instead it offers a solid single player experience that will entertain throughout, and a multiplayer that can truly compete with battlefield.

THQ’s Frontlines: Fuel of War effectively gets the job done providing a fun large open space for gamers to unleash virtual war on each other. Either online, or offline, Frontlines will keep you busy for a few hours at the minimum blasting away on the latest superpower threat. There is enough variety in Frontlines to make 360 gamers forget about Halo 3 or Call of Duty 4 for a while and try something new. If Frontlines can remain on the top of the mountain only time can tell, but for now Frontlines: Fuel of War is worth the investment. I’d mark Frontlines: Fuel of War out as rental for gamers who want to blast through the single player campaign and grab a few achievements, for all the others who love online gaming, Frontlines is worth the price of admission.

EA and DICE will inevitably be back to reclaim their prized war machine at some point, but in the meantime we're glad THQ and Kaos Studios knocked off some of its rust and took it for a spin as Frontlines: Fuel of War. The online battlefield mode is fun and refreshing, the battle-line scheme is interesting (albeit limiting), and the single-player campaign is predictably worthless. Consequently, the biggest problem is paying top dollar for a used tank when you've probably already had this experience before.

A rental at best if you are stranded offline but worth picking up for online play, sadly the community isn’t as big as it could be and with a new Battlefield game on the horizon that may well stay that way. Despite the lack of originality there is plenty of online fun to be had but try and drag some friends along for the ride.

We are not really as displeased with Frontlines as we may sound in this review; it’s more that we are disappointed that a generally fun and entertaining game is marked with so many little flaws that put a damper on the entire experience. Like most games, FFOW leaves room for a sequel at the end, so we pray that if THQ does in fact greenlight another title in the series, they’ll fix these flaws and it will get the praise it deserves. For now, though, Frontlines is just another average shooter with a political slant.

We are not really as displeased with Frontlines as we may sound in this review; it’s more that we are disappointed that a generally fun and entertaining game is marked with so many little flaws that put a damper on the entire experience. Like most games, FFOW leaves room for a sequel at the end, so we pray that if THQ does in fact greenlight another title in the series, they’ll fix these flaws and it will get the praise it deserves. For now, though, Frontlines is just another average shooter with a political slant.

In the end, the Frontlines does enough to entertain on the multiplayer end to make up for the woeful single-player experience. It's a shame Kaos doesn't scrap the single-player altogether to focus completely on honing the online experience.

In the end, the Frontlines does enough to entertain on the multiplayer end to make up for the woeful single-player experience. It's a shame Kaos doesn't scrap the single-player altogether to focus completely on honing the online experience.

There are a lot of good ideas contained in Frontlines: Fuel of War, but their execution just seems to make the game feel average. Technical glitches and the HUD don’t help matters. If these ideas could be expanded on, a sequel could be a great addition to your game library. Unfortunately, in this sea of “me too” shooters, Frontlines doesn’t do enough to stand out of the crowd.

Overall, Frontlines: Fuel of War seems to have had all the makings for a hit. What we get in the end is a title that was over hyped, promised too much and delivers only on a handful of key its features. It is a rental at best.

Frontlines: Fuels of War was an interesting idea that Kaos did not take as far as it creatively could have and ultimately we end up with yet another Battlefield style game. The key factor is going to be how much legs the game has online, but one area where Kaos must gain credit is single player because it is one of the best components of the game - something we did not expect going in. We really hope Kaos is working on downloadable content because this idea and setting has such potential, it’s just a shame they decided to stay so close to what obviously was the inspiration.

So, for a game that offers an exciting yet slightly underwhelming multiplayer, and an action packed but somewhat brief and disjointed campaign, Frontlines still manages to be better than the sum of its parts. There are better alternatives available though, remember that, and seeing as Frontlines offers such sporadic trills you’re best off first getting your hands on the best the genre offers, before taking what can only be described as been a step down to this effort.

So, for a game that offers an exciting yet slightly underwhelming multiplayer, and an action packed but somewhat brief and disjointed campaign, Frontlines still manages to be better than the sum of its parts. There are better alternatives available though, remember that, and seeing as Frontlines offers such sporadic trills you’re best off first getting your hands on the best the genre offers, before taking what can only be described as been a step down to this effort.

Frontlines: Fuel of War is good, don't get me wrong, but it could have and should have been great. There is a healthy arsenal, plenty of fun vehicles (drones, helicopters, tanks), and some fantastic levels. Then there is the fact that the AI is wonky, the vehicles control like cranky bricks, and the multiplayer is limited to eight maps and a handful of, albeit good, enhancements. I enjoyed my time with Frontlines, but it needs more if it wants to stay on Live for longer than a few months.

Despite the single-player mode's inability to engage on a narrative level and the fact that you're supremely powerful for most of that side of it, Frontlines is a pleasant addition to the legion of shooters crowding the 360's line-up, largely thanks to its multiplayer. If killing other people is what you're into, and you're hankering after a new Battlefield-style game to call your own, then you should definitely give it a look.

If you are looking for a good online first person shooter for your 360 Frontlines won’t disappoint you. But if you are looking for the next Call of Duty or Halo then take a pass on Frontlines. Even with all its problems, Frontlines is a game that can be still be fun to play if you give it a bit of time.

My best call on this game is to at least give it a rental, and see how the multiplayer experience pans out for you. I can't say that the single player game warrants a $60 purchase, but if you can find the right black magic to make multiplayer work well, then you've got a solid game on your hands.

Even though Frontlines is entertaining it fails to deliver a memorable gaming experience. It feels like the game is unfinished. There is no single thread within the game that links graphics, game play, sound, controls, vehicles, weapons and all Frontlines’ other elements into one cohesive experience. And that’s what prevents the game from reaching it’s potential. It just looks rushed and nothing can cover that up. This is definitely a purchase for the discount bin.

For all its “ripped from the headlines” story, Frontlines is the same old Red vs Blue, with Red being a Sino-Russian alliance and Blue, a joint American-British coalition. In an oil scarce world, Kaos could have drastically reshaped the look of warfare, but oil-hungry tanks, helicopters, drones and armored four-wheelers populate the landscape. The story, conveyed in cutscenes by an embedded journalist, explains that all the oil is going to the war effort — the end result being an elaborate back-story which merely serves to explain why the West is at war with the East.

The idea of a world with a severe oil shortage is a terrifying notion that hits close to home, but the game surrounding that idea is much less engaging. If some occasionally fun Xbox Live multiplayer action is all you need, then Frontlines: Fuel of War is worth some time, although its lack of modes, options and originality are disappointing. The single player campaign is merely an afterthought in what is yet another average game.

In the end, Frontlines: Fuel of War takes a real-world and political approach to the FPS genre. However, with many of its ambitious features falling short, it is difficult to notice what little the game does well. And, while it isn't the worst FPS to come out for the PC in recent years, it also doesn't stack up against already popular and much older titles.

It's easier to recommend Frontlines: Fuel of War for the Xbox 360 for a variety of reasons. The premature PC launch has been a technical headache and major disappointment for a large number of users. Our inability to get the game to run on Vista is especially disheartening. Considering how excited we were to play what should have been the next Battlefield-style experience, we can't help but call this a missed opportunity. If you can get it to run, there's a lot to like in Frontlines: Fuel of War, and it could provide for many late nights of multiplayer excitement. But for now, your best bet is to wait until the dust clears and hope for something, soon, that resembles a finished product.

Now, will these issues be addressed in a patch at some point? It's certainly possible. But as of this writing, multiplayer is so buggy that it absolutely kills the game. If multiplayer had clan support, or more than one game type, or chat for more than four players at a time, the strategic possibilities of such a broad game might make multiplayer worthwhile in spite of its enormous issues. But, alas, this is not the case. And as fun as the single-player campaign is, it's far too short to stand on its own without a worthwhile online component. So in the end, the Frontlines experience is mainly about what might have been. If the multitude of multiplayer bugs are somehow corrected, bringing the online component up to the quality of the powerful single-player campaign, this could be a powerful, entertaining, engrossing game.

Unfortunately, the almost believable premise is about the only thing in the game that works as it should. Although Frontlines sports sophisticated machinery - gadgets and vehicles and doo-hickeys galore - it seems to be lacking the juice to run all that neat stuff. Ironically, the supposed widespread lack of energy is an apt metaphor for the game itself - a promising battlefield-style shooter that ultimately just up and dies at the curb. It might look good in the garage, but before you know it, Frontlines will be jacked up on cinder blocks and left to fertilize the yard with rust.